Mentoring a waste of time, right?

The author Kim Hamam writes, “ Studies show that most people who succeed have a mentor - A trusted confidant who inspires, guides and most of all, generously imparts their wisdom to help another person”

Case Study. Developing Self Awareness.

Mentoring Michael who is on his first level EVP appointment. Michael is a talented scientist, highly skilled at complex computer engineering projects. Dealing with people as opposed to technology, was not a natural fit for him. We identified and agreed that he needed to develop his self-awareness.

For an Executive, a lack of self-awareness can become a career-limiting factor. We focused on the two ways to get help, firstly from your peer group and secondly from your direct reports. Asking for help and support is the first and very important step. The manner in which we developed our mentoring partnership was to be open, honest and absolutely candid and direct. Michael is now three years into his role as an Executive Vice President.

Case Study. Effective Communication.

Mentoring Catherine who after her mentoring partnership was promoted to Director level. Catherine was a highly capable Buying Executive. She had fantastic product skills but was lacking in effective communication with her team. To improve communication was our agreed goal.

Communication is all about building great listening skills. This is known as Active Listening. The skill required Catherine to focus less on her product skills and more on her listening skills. Listening should be 75% of your contribution to the team and the balance is your input. Delighted to share that Catherine is two years into her role and has achieved zero turnovers in her team of talented fashion buyers.

Case study. Managing Conflict.

Mentoring Maureen who was a Divisional Manager in the worlds number 1, Computer retailer. Maureen had inherited a team that was a very high spirited competitive bunch of individuals. This had unfortunately led to some conflict in the workplace.

I agreed with Maureen that as a Leader if you are unable to manage conflict, you should not be in a leadership role. These difficult conversations are something that can be had in the safe and confidential environment of a Mentoring Partnership.

We worked on the fact that you must embrace conflict full on. Conflict in the workplace will always be there. When managed effectively, conflict can be a healthy contribution to advancing your business.

Conflict resolution is a skill. It will break down barriers and ultimately lead to an improved working environment, with better results. We set out our Mentoring Partnership in agreeing with the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. Maureen learnt with great skill to listen intensively to what was behind the conflict and set out with her team to formulate agreeable solutions. A few years on from our Mentoring Partnership, Maureen has been promoted twice and is now a functional leader in this global successful retailer. I feel so proud to have been part of her journey.

Please note that client names have been changed, out of respect to the confidential nature of our Mentoring Partnership.

Richard Worth

Partner at www.retail-metrics.com